Danger of temptation
by Serenity-Chama
Summary: Finally realizing what being a shinobi is all about, Haruno Sakura starts looking at the world through a different view. What will it take to regain the sparkle in her eyes? KakaSaku\\GenmaIno
1. Returning home

_**Warning:**_ _Overused KakaSaku plot, Adult themes, strong language, violence, possible character death._

_**Words of wisdom:**_

Well, first attempt at a KakaSaku fic. I got into this lovely pairing a few months ago. If you have a problem with a teacher\student relationship then it's not too late to get the hell out of here. Sakura is eighteen in this, but there's still a huge age difference. If you're fine with this then please continue reading. I'm very exited about writing this. Don't worry, I'll try not to dissapoint you. Feedback is greatly appreciated, especially now. So, moving on to the story:

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Almost every individual living the life of a _shinobi _were doomed to reach a point in their life where their hearts turned a tad harder. Colder. As some even said;_ less vulnerable, _even though that showed to be a lie when it came to most of them. Some were earlier than others when it came to shielding their emotions from the pain such as the loss of loved ones, which was common and happened a lot more than most of them cared to admit or even think about. Death was a part of their everyday life, some handled it better than others, but one thing was certain; it would _never_ become _easier_. No matter how many times you saw the enemy slit your comrades throat, no matter how many times you heard those last words escape a dying friends mouth before his body fell completely lifeless in your bloodstained hands, or no matter how many times you saw a life taken away way too early…. You simply didn't get used to it.

"_A shinobi must never show any emotion. A shinobi must put the mission first and must have a heart that will allow him not to cry."_

Those were one of the rules they were supposed to follow. Haruno Sakura had tried. She'd really _tried _to live after those words_, _figuring it would be best to make her heart immune to the pain she'd had enough of live up to these standards as a seventeen year old chuunin. Yet her heart always seemed to shatter every time she failed to save a life. She was a medic for crying out loud! She was supposed to handle situations like these like a professional would. Like her fellow coworkers did. Tsunade had told her a long time ago that showing her emotions was alright as long as it didn't interfered with her work. She was expected to always give a hundred percent no matter how tired, upset or injured she was. And she did. She _always_ did.

Konoha was at war with grass country after an escort mission gone horribly wrong. It was all a big misunderstanding, but Konoha had been blamed for the damage causing the alliance between Leaf and Grass to be broken. The Godaime had sent Sakura to the frontline to work as a medic out on the field. She had said that this would add to Sakura's experience, and of course the very fact that she was needed there since Tsunade was unable to be there herself. Konoha was short on truly skilled medics, but Sakura had managed to increase the loss of Konoha shinobi, much to everyone's relief. She was excellent and flawless when it came to her job. She wasn't the second best medic in fire country for nothing.

It had been six months since she'd left Konoha and started her life as a field medic. Maybe it wasn't such a long time, but it sure felt like it. In times like these she actually wished Ino had been qualified enough to come with her. Not that she'd ever admit that. Being better than her rival at at least _something _was more than satisfying. Still, she kind of missed the forehead insults and the fact that she didn't have anyone to talk to out here. Sure, she knew her fellow medics, but there simply wasn't enough time to bond with anyone. She was always surrounded by injured patients, some with minor wounds and others struggling for their lives. It was a mess, but they managed to do their work properly despite all the chaos and screams.

Sakura was relieved when she finally got a letter from the hokage telling her to come back home to take the jounin exam. Sakura was excited. She'd never thought she'd live up to the standards of a jounin, but apparently her teacher thought she did and Tsunade would never let her take the exam if she didn't believe she could do it. The war was more or less over anyway. It hadn't done either of the country's any good, but Grass was forced to give up at some point, knowing the only thing they would gain if they kept on fighting were more dead bodies, friends and comrades. It would take a long time before the alliance between the two countries would be established again.

Sakura sighed as she sat down on a rock next to the coughing chuunin she'd just saved from certain death. She rubbed her sore hands while watching the man as another medic began to work on some of his minor wounds. Sakura moved down to massage her sore feet. It had been a busy day and all she wanted to do was to sink into her bed and melt into the sheets.

"Tough day, huh?" Sakura snapped out of her little daydreaming involving a comfy bed and a hot shower when she heard Tsukiumi, the other medic, speak to her while tending the man located next to her. The older woman, two years her senior, didn't look too energetic herself. Host of the medics working here lacked days of sleep, including herself.

"You have no idea," Sakura answered in a tired voice, stretching her arms only to hear an expected crack that seemed to make the other female flinch like she'd never heard a cracking muscle before. She cleared her throat.

"So… I heard you're returning back to Konoha? When are you leaving?" Tsukimi asked, struggling to get her long, blonde hair to stay out of her face while she let her chakra flow into the injured man's back. It was a nasty flashflood. It looked like it was quite the difficult task though. Sakura was glad she'd kept her hair at shoulders length. She liked it better short anyway. It made her look more mature, like an adult. Or so one of her friends had stated before she left. Technically, she _was_ an adult, and she'd been that for almost two years. Even so, these last six months had changed her drastically. Her view on certain things had changed. For the better, she didn't know.

"Yeah." Sakura grinned. "Tsunade-shishou thinks I'm ready to take the jounin exam. To be honest, I'm not so sure that I am. I'm heading home tomorrow morning though." She sighed while giving her coworker a faint smile, signaling she was alright.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. I think you're more than capable of passing the exam." The blonde smiled, finally facing Sakura. "But I have to admit, I do envy you. You have no idea how homesick I am." Tsukiumi faced the ground. It looked like she spaced out for a moment before snapping back to reality "N-not that I don't like my job or anything. I love the feeling I get after saving a life, but still…" Her look saddened, while she left the sentence unfinished.

"Still there's the pain of failing to save someone... I have a feeling I'm the only one who's bad in those situation. You guys seem so calm and professional. I have no idea how you do it. You can control your feelings perfectly. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that," Sakura answered while looking down at the now sleeping patient's chest rising and falling with each steady breath. He'd been lucky. A minute later and he would have died from blood loss.

"I lost a six year old today." The blonde suddenly said, hands clutching at her skirt.

Sakura's eyes widened. "But we don't have-"

"You remember the group who attacked us earlier this morning?" She asked.

"Y-yeah-." Of course she remembered. It had been a bloodbath, but the enemy had been the first to fall and luckily no leaf shinobi suffered any fatal blows.

"Apparently a little boy was with them. I can only assume he was the child of one of the grass nins. I have no idea why he was even _there _in the first place. He popped out of nowhere. Defending his dying father as a paper bomb was suddenly heading their way… I swear my heart stopped beating for an entire minute. He was blown away as easily as a leaf getting blown away by a mild breeze. I was by his side within seconds. I honestly didn't care. Enemy or not, a child is _not_ supposed to fight at the age of six, let alone lose his life over something that has got nothing to do with him. And yet I couldn't…I-"

Sakura could tell she was fighting her voice from breaking. Her own heart hurting just looking at the blonde woman. There was nothing as horrible as seeing a child die. She'd been there and it had taken her a long time before she'd managed to gather herself after crying for hours. She simply couldn't afford to cry. Not when so many people needed her help, knowing there would be far more tears shed if she didn't do her job. It was tough and sometimes she wished she'd had a shoulder to cry on during those moments where she was at the brink of giving into all those emotions that remained bottled up inside of her. She had to stay strong. She was the hokage's apprentice. She had to show that she had the same strength as her teacher. That she could handle death.

The pink-haired moved away from the rock and put a comforting hand on the other medic's shoulder. "There was nothing you could've done. We just can't save everyone." Her words came out so easily. Like they had an excuse. But they were no comfort to either Tsukiumi or Sakura.

"I know that. I just can't get used to it. I might be able to shield my feelings a little better than you, but it doesn't mean that it hurts any less." There were no tears coming from Tsukiumi. Just that devastating look in her eyes knowing that she'd failed a defenseless child and that probably half of the people here didn't give a damn that another life was lost in yet another war. Sakura admired her, she was a brave kunoichi and a highly skilled medic. Even though she hadn't had the chance to talk to her and form something that could be qualified as a friendship, she looked up to the older woman.

"I know." Sakura said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I've used up way too much chakra today." She stretched her sore muscles a second time. "Good night, Tsuki-chan. You did great today." Sakura smiled before getting up and started to walk towards her tent, missing the feel of a certain soft pillow already.

Tsukiumi got up to her feet and let out an exhausted sigh. Putting all emotions aside, letting herself relax a bit. "So did you. Night Sakura-chan. Have a safe journey home. And thanks, you're absolutely right. We just have to stay positive. Hopefully this hell will end at some point."

Sakura gave another wave in her direction before the blonde was out of sight and Sakura was left walking alone while gazing up at the starry sky. Sure, she missed Konoha, but still… some memories were better left forgotten. Things hadn't exactly turned out the way they were supposed to. The way she thought it would be.

She'd always been one to believe in dreams and that everyone got a happy ending if they just tried and hoped strong enough. She'd been proven wrong on many, _many _occasions. The life of a shinobi was no fairytale. Thinking back she let out a bitter laugh at how pathetic and stupid she'd been. She'd seriously believed that when they got Sasuke back everything would return back to normal. What a foolish thought that had been. Now, after two years, she was no longer that girl with high hopes and dreams for her future. Her life was by no means hopeless or without meaning, she just didn't have that same sparkle in her eyes that she used to have. It had disappeared after that one mission, along with everything else she was familiar with. Her entire lifestyle had somehow taken another direction. She didn't like it one bit, but there was clearly nothing she could do about it.

During their mission to bring Sasuke back two years ago, the raven haired Uchiha had almost managed to kill Naruto. Again. All Sakura could do was to heel the bloody pulp that was her blonde teammate while crying her heart out, begging him not to give in. She'd saved him. Yamato and Kakashi had managed to overpower the weakened Uchiha, sending him into an unconscious state. She'd healed his injuries too, but not before her other teammates made sure that the boy wouldn't manage to make a run for it when he woke up. There was no happy tears, not cheers… only silence as they started their journey back home.

She thought she would be happy when she for the first time in over two years walked through the gates of Konoha with her _entire _team alive. Of course, two of them were unconscious and the other two barely talked to her. She _had _been happy, sort of. Sasuke was safe and Naruto would manage, like he always did. He'd forgiven Sasuke the very minute he woke up, covered in bandage from his legs to his neck. Apparently Sakura hadn't been the only one to think everything would be alright once they were a team again. Sasuke wanted nothing to do with either of them once he woke up. She hadn't taken it lightly. It had broken her heart, again. She doubted that Naruto felt any better, but unlike herself Naruto had never heard of the phrase "giving up". He was a special case though, sometimes she wished she had his confidence, his courage and that strong will to live that almost made him invincible. He was beside Sasuke whether the boy wanted it or not. He was the only one fit for that job. The cold looks and hurting words didn't scare the blonde as much as it had scared her. But, this was only during their stay at the hospital. After that everything went wrong.

The elders refused to let the last Uchiha walk freely around the village, in fact, no matter how many times Tsunade told them that putting some extra ANBU to keep a few extra eyes on the kid would be more than enough, they simply ignored it. They demanded some kind of punishment for his betrayal. There had even been talk about an execution, but fortunately Tsunade had the last word when it came to things like that. Sasuke would have to settle for prison until they were sure he wasn't a threat to the village any more. It could take weeks, months or even years before he regained anyone's trust. Sasuke had by some sort of miracle agreed to being locked up willingly(not that he had much of a choice, but he went without any struggle) on a few conditions which the council had accepted. Sakura didn't know if it was because he regretted his actions or because he simply didn't care what happened to him since he'd already managed to kill his brother… His bloodline was precious to the village. One of the council's conditions was that he had to provide heirs at some point in his life if he was to ever walk freely again. Not that he'd shown any interests in women, or men…. Or objects. Sakura snorted.

Being imprisoned wasn't really all that bad though. Not the way she'd imagined it to be. He was treated nicely and allowed visitors at any time of the day. Not that he got a lot of those. It was mostly only Naruto who bothered to spend hours hanging around the antisocial Uchiha. Not that she blamed him, she'd done the same thing the first two weeks. She'd even ran into Kakashi once. Eventually she'd given up on regaining any form of contact with their third team member. He rarely answered her questions and it didn't look like he appreciated the company of either of them. She'd settled on visiting him once a week, and a brief visit at that. Basically just to check up on him because she still cared deeply about Sasuke. Her team was like a family to her. And yet, when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

They continued their training without Sasuke. Their team consisting of herself, Naruto, Sai, Yamato and occasionally Kakashi (when he wasn't wrapped up in a hospital). It was more or less back to the way it used to be before they retrieved him, only that was never ment to last either. The Akatsuki had began to move for real this time and Naruto, being one of their targets, couldn't afford to train with her anymore. If he was to go up against those guys he needed special training, something he couldn't get from team Kakashi. It was decided that he'd resume his training with Jiraiya somewhere outside the borders of fire country, away from Konoha. Sakura had volunteered to go with him, practically begged him, but Naruto wouldn't let her. Sure, she knew it was because he cared about her and the fact that he wanted her safe. "It's not your problem Sakura-chan, it's mine," he'd told her before he left with a smile on his face. The first and last step towards a broken team. Maybe he didn't mean anything by it, she _knew_ he hadn't, but it had hurt. Knowing that she once again was left alone feeling like the weakest link. Sai went back to the ANBU and she only assumed that Yamato did the same because she rarely saw him hanging around. The same went for her former sensei… he'd manage to disappear out of her life as well. What did she expect?

Sakura had focused all her energy on shifts at the hospital and training with Tsunade. She felt like a young Naruto, struggling to be acknowledged. When Tsunade had sent her to the frontline she'd been happy. Happy to get away from the life she didn't have. To get away from the people she loved who now had chosen not to be a part of her life. They probably didn't mean to. They had lives of their own now and she just wasn't a part of it. She'd _tried _to stay in touch with her old sensei, but even that seemed like a difficult task. Hell, she'd even searched out Yamato. Maybe they all just didn't give a damn whether she was breathing or not. Yes, she sounded like a god damn child, she knew. But it had hurt. She practically missed her entire childhood because of the one person she thought she loved and now she was lacking an adult life because her teammates decided to bail on her. Fine, Naruto had an excuse even though he too had refused her. But when it came to the others they had every opportunity to stay in touch with her, they just chose not to. At least she could seek comfort at Ino's and some of the other girls.

Sakura sighed. She hoped things had changed by the time she got back. One could always hope.

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Sakura leapt through the forest a little faster than she actually had to. She _was _in a hurry to get home. No matter how much she wanted to kick some certain people's asses back in the village she wanted to see them more than anything else. Naruto had written to her once, telling her that everything went fine with his training, except for the fact that they'd gotten kicked out because of the toad sannin's "_research_". Sakura had frowned when reading that. He told her that he missed her and that he hoped she was doing alright. It had seriously made her day. But that was five months ago.

She wondered if he'd changed much. Not only him, but her friends back in Konoha as well. She knew she herself hadn't changed too much when it came to the matter of looks. She still wore those short, black tights with her usual skirt. Her hair had grown a few inches longer, but she was not about to let it get any longer than that. She'd started wearing her hitai-ate around her arm instead of using it as a hairband. She still _wore_ a hairband to keep the pink locks from falling into her face while working, but she'd changed it into something black and longer instead of the usual red she always wore. Her shirt was pretty much the same, except it hugged her body a little tighter than before. She liked to think that maybe… just _maybe _her breasts had gotten a _little _bigger? As a girl at the age of almost eighteen, as a matter of fact her birthday was tomorrow, she was quite unsatisfied when it came to her body and her female curves. _More like the lack of female curves, _she corrected herself. Not that she was trying to impress anyone… She hadn't taken any interest in a boy since Sasuke. Well, she'd looked, but nothing more. After his return she'd been too depressed to take up dating and the guys around her seemed to know that. She'd been asked out a couple of times. Mostly by either Lee or Naruto(before he left with Jiraiya). She'd accepted most of the dates, but she didn't qualify them as _real_ dates. She wasn't interested in either of the boys and simply agreed for the sake of socializing. She had a feeling they knew that too, because they rarely tried anything perverted. They were both nice guys and she considered their future girlfriends to be very lucky. They just didn't fit the description of her type of guy. Not that she could describe how her _type _was either. What did she like? Pretty guys? Well, yeah. She liked the ones that were easy on the eye. Like Sasuke, but that boy had the personality of a stool so she'd given up on the dream of marrying the Uchiha a long time ago. Hell, she bet he'd rather _choose _a stool to marry if the choice fell on either her or the furniture.

"God…" Sakura frowned, slapping her palm across her face. She had to get _that _mental image out of her head. Sasuke and a furniture? Sometimes she seriously questioned her sanity.

She knew the other kunoichis were almost as innocent as herself. Maybe they had a little more kissing experience, but that was about it. It was true that a ninja's body was a mere tool and that lots of the females usually had to use their bodies to gain information from the target. This could require sleeping with him or her. It had always been like that and it was a fate one had to accept. She had no idea why, but those missions hadn't been given to any of the females in her generation. Not that she knew of anyway. Maybe Tsunade was a little more protective towards the girls than she cared to admit? She had no problem sending them on a mission that could very well cost them their life in combat, but when it came to missions where a kunoichi was forced to use other skills and methods to succeed it was given to older kunoichi. She was grateful for that. Even though she was well aware that a shinobi's life was tough and that they usually didn't get happy endings, she still held on to the dream that her first time would be with someone she loved. At least someone she was dating. Her parents _had_ been bugging the hell out of her, sticking their nose in her private life, asking her when she was going to get herself a boyfriend.

Sakura shook her head, wondering how her mind had ended up thinking of that subject in the first place. It wasn't like she was in a hurry or anything.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat when She finally saw those familiar gates leading into the village and a smile tugged at her lips. A relived sigh escaped her as she picked up the speed. Landing in front of the gates with curious eyes as she gazed into the village. Everything looked just about the same as when she'd left. What had she been expecting anyway? She lifted her pack to hang over her shoulder as she started to walk towards the place she called home.

"Oy! Sakura-san, is that you?"

Sakura turned to face the voice coming from her left. She gave a wide grin at Kotetsu who was currently waving at her. Izumo's eyes left the book in his lap to look at the person his annoying college seemed to be so excited about that he damn near made him spill his coffee all over his romance novel. However, when his eyes shifted to the pink-haired standing a few meters away from them his lips curved into a smirk.

"My my, you look good, Sakura. Welcome back." He said loud enough for her to hear before returning to the tragic story he was so caught up in.

Sakura frowned, but that turned into a smile soon enough. "Uhm, thanks. I'll see you guys later, okay? My feet are _killing_ me." And they really were. The two chuunin nodded and gave another wave as she continued down her path and towards the main street of Konoha.

She ran into some familiar faces who greeted her with big smiles and waves. All in all it was _good_ to be back home. Stopping in front of the hokage tower, she dragged herself inside the main entrance, wanting to much rather go home and sleep, but she'd promised Tsunade to drop by and Sakura usually kept her promises. After what seemed like a million stairs she was finally standing outside the Godaime's office. She gathered herself, not that keen on seeming too tired in front of her teacher and knocked on the door.

"Enter…" The woman sounded tired from behind the door. If she'd been drinking again Sakura swore that the next time Tsunade laid her hands on a sake bottle it sure wouldn't be sake in it. Tossing those thoughts aside she opened the door only to find a worn out Tsunade and the strong smell of sake invading her nose. Yuck.

"Seriously Shishou…" Sakura coughed. "You shouldn't be drinking. It makes you look older." She sighed as she raised an eyebrow at the woman who apparently made a habit of using her wooden desk as a pillow. Didn't look to comfy.

The moment Sakura walked into the room a smile formed at the fifth's lips and she eventually lifted her head up to face her apprentice after six months of missing the young woman.

"You sure took your time getting back. You look good, Sakura." The hokage smirked.

"You know, that's the second time I hear that today and I feel like a total mess," Sakura laughed. "Anyways, I'll give you a brief summary of everything that's happened tomorrow. Even though I'm pretty sure you already know all the important details already." She sighed in dismay, not liking the idea of writing a rapport covering six whole months.

"No one writes reports like you Sakura." Tsunade teased, circling her fingers around her teacup. "Come to think of it, you're such excellent at doing paperwork. You even beat Shizune by a mile. I'm _so_ glad you're back, kiddo." They both knew the meaning behind that. Yeah, she was good at doing the _hokage's_ paperwork alright. She'd lost count of all those night she'd been stuck in an archive sorting out all sorts of documents.

"You flatter me, Shishou…" Sakura said rolling her eyes, feeling the paper cuts after sitting hours after hours sorting out mission reports already.

"Yeah yeah. I bet you missed it. You should go home and rest. You're off duty tomorrow. Now get out of here, I have a really bothersome mission and no one to take care of it. We'll discuss everything regarding the jounin exam Sunday morning. If you're late you'll pay." She pinched the bridge of her nose while squeezing her eyes shut. She might use a jutsu to keep her pretty face in place, but when Tsunade was burned out the years she so desperately wanted to hide shined through.

"Thanks, Shishou. I really appreciate that. I'll be there, have fun." The pink-haired winked before heading towards the door.

"Brat…" The hokage mumbled. "And Sakura, in case I won't see you tomorrow…"

Sakura paused and gave her master a curious look.

"Happy birthday," The Godaime smiled.

A pair of emerald eyes lit up the very second the words left the older woman's mouth and Sakura grinned.

"I didn't think you would remember."

"Oh for the love of god child, I'm not _that _old…" Tsunade growled.

"Of course not, Shishou. One last thing though" There was a brief pause. "… Any news from Naruto? He's not back yet, is he?" Sakura bit her lower lip, looking hopefully into the older woman's eyes. She only got a blank stare in return and a sigh escaped the blonde sannin before putting down her cup.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

"Oh… what about-" _Sasuke…_ Sakura didn't even want to hear the answer. There was no way he'd be released this soon.

Tsunade shook her head lightly and gave Sakura a halfhearted smile.

"That's alright." Sakura smiled. It didn't quite reach her eyes, but trying to hide her disappointment from Tsunade was a stupid thing. She always saw through her white lies. Sometimes it was rather annoying, but Sakura was grateful for the bond they shared.

Not wanting to stick around for much longer Sakura walked out of the office. It did warm her heart to know that someone actually remembered her birthday though. Her parents would probably drop by tomorrow, but they were obligated to visit her at her birthday she thought. Having the day off on the other hand was the best birthday present she could think off. Maybe she'd just spend the day tucked under a blanket with her favorite tea and a good book. To her, it sounded like heaven and she let out a satisfied sigh. A bath would be nice too. God she smelled of dried blood and dirt. Sakura frowned. Yes, a bath was definitely a good idea.

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"You're a fucking asshole!"

Genma ducked as a vase was thrown in his direction with the intention of crushing into his scull. He held his hands up in defense, looking terrified at the raven-haired, pissed off woman on the other side of the room, wearing nothing but a pair of lazy panties and a black bra to go with it. His gaze however, was at her face. He couldn't really afford to look anywhere else, if he wanted to live that was.

"H-hey, calm down woman! Are you _trying _to kill me?!" Her next expression told him that, yes, she might very well kill him if he didn't get the hell out of there within the next ten seconds. Not too keen on being remembered as the man that got murdered by a woman in her underwear with a vase pierced through his head he decided that leaving would be an excellent idea. After reaching out for his shirt and dodging yet another breakable object he ran for the nearest exit and let himself out before receiving a fatal blow below the belt. Phew, that was a close one.

Much to his relief she decided he wasn't worth following. Geez, this happened way too often. Why him? Sighing, he put the senbon back into his mouth and thread the shirt back over his head. It would take a serious amount of alcohol to make this less traumatizing that it already was and the jounin knew of the perfect drinking buddy. But first he might as well empty the sake bottle located in his night drawer before doing anything else. He knew it would come to good use sooner or later.

"Women…" The man mumbled, heading for his own apartment.

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After taking a delicious scum bath the previous night Sakura had fallen asleep on the couch in just a pair of panties and a large, pink t-shirt. She hadn't had the energy to turn off the TV, but she didn't mind a little background noise. Living by herself tended to be a little lonely at some points. She'd moved out of her parent's house at the age of fifteen. At first she'd been sharing an apartment with Ino simply because she couldn't afford to pay the rent by herself, but after five months of constant fighting and bitching about which one of them that deserved to use the only bathroom in the house first thing in the morning, she'd had enough and asked Tsunade for a raise. It hadn't been easy and she had to take extra shifts at the hospital, but she'd somehow managed to move out a month later and the girls made up. She loved Ino like a sister, a very _annoying _sister that liked to bully her, but living with her proved to be too much for even Sakura. Living alone had its advantages as well and she was grateful for not having to share a bathroom with anyone. One thing was certain though, she was _never_ going to share a room with Ino _ever _again. She'd rather sleep outside on the street than getting in a fight with the stubborn blonde.

Sakura cracked her eyes open the moment she heard a faint knock on her door. Normally Sakura was a heavy sleeper but taking a quick look at the clock she realized she'd slept for over twelve hours. Feeling completely fresh and full of renewed energy she got off the couch, shivering when her bare feet met the wooden floor. She dragged her feet across the living room, heading for the door. She simply didn't bother to get dressed properly. The shirt she wore went down to her mid thighs anyway and she doubted that it was prince charming standing on the other side of the door and if it was, she'd tell him to get lost and come back in an hour.

"Seriously, it's freezing out here, would you mind hurrying up?" Sakura knew that voice. Opening the door she couldn't help but smile at the smirking, but a little pissed off blonde that stood outside her apartment, shivering. It never snowed in Konoha, but it could get to the point where you had to wear layers on layers of warm clothes on if you didn't want to freeze your nose off.

"Mornin' pig. You look like a train wreck, what happened?" Sakura grinned before stepping aside to let her childhood friend stomp inside, giving her an annoyed look as her gaze met Sakura's.

"Shut it, forehead. You should be grateful I even bothered coming over here in the first place. There's something wrong with my freakin' heather. I woke up feeling like an ice cube." The blonde snorted, kicking off her shoes as she turned to face Sakura.

"Ow, admit it… You missed me, Ino." Sakura smirked before finding herself pulled into a firm hug.

"I-Ino?" Sakura questioned, returning the hug, but still a little surprised at her friend's behavior.

"I did miss you alright, but if you ever tell anyone I'll kick your ass!" A genuine smile showed on Sakura's face as Ino broke the hug smiling back at her. It was then Sakura noticed the plastic bag in Ino's hand.

"What's that?" The pink haired asked, trying not to seem too curious. As she reached to snap the bag from the blonde she found herself stumbling forward as Ino took a step back, amused at the sight of the girl almost falling face first onto the kitchen floor. Sakura growled.

"The hell was the point in doing that pig?!"

"You _really_ wanna know what this is don't you, forehead?" Ino smirked, satisfied as she hid the bag behind her back, not about to give it to Sakura anytime soon.

"As if… Keep your stupid bag." Sakura spat back, crossing her arms as her lips turned into a whining pout.

"Aaaw, you're no fun at all are you?" Ino sighed. "Ah well, I guess I don't have a choice then." She held out the bag in front of her. "Happy birthday, Sakura" The blonde grinned.

Sakura's eyes widen with excitement. "Ino… You remembered?" Ino rolled her eyes before literally throwing the bag at her. Sakura caught it with ease, her hands immediately reaching down the bag only to have her fingers bump into something soft. She wrapped her fingers around the material and carefully dragged it out of the plastic bag. The first thing she noticed was the color. It was black and silver and…

"Absolutely gorgeous!" Sakura said in pure amazement as she held up the dress to her chest. A little short maybe, but it was definitely beautiful. The dress had an elegant strapless neckline and the back seemed to be open with three horizontal straps. It also featured a front slit on the left side that Sakura found to be a little too revealing for her liking. But the one thing that made Sakura gasp was that the skirt was beaded with small flowers that glittered in the light.

"Wow…" It was the only word she could think of at the moment.

"You like it, huh? Well you better prepare to get some hungry looks tonight." Ino grinned as she leaned her back against the kitchen table, clearly patting herself at the head for having such great taste of fashion.

"Like it, I love- wait, what?" Sakura tore her gaze away from the dress and stared at Ino, confusion written all over her face, which only made the blonde chuckle.

"That's right. The reason I bought you this dress in the first place is because we're stepping out. You're eighteen now and you know what that means, riiiight?" Sakura didn't like the look on her friend's face at all. It meant she was up to something she knew Sakura would have a hard time agreeing on.

The pink-haired frowned. "I'm not too sure I wanna know…"

Ino rolled her eyes a second time before grabbing Sakura's wrist and dragging her into the bedroom. "It meaaaaans… you're old enough to drink, forehead. Come on, we have a lot to do before you're worthy of even wearing a masterpiece like that."

"I-Ino! Pig, lemme go! Guh… You're hopeless! I'm staying home!"

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"Shizune!"

Shizune flinched as she heard something getting thrown against the wall inside the hokage's office. The unmistakable sound of glass shattering and a forehead hitting the desk. She opened the door only to find a very uncharacteristic pout on Tsunade's face.

"Tsunade-sama?" The mid aged woman raised an eyebrow at the miserable wreck that was the slug sannin.

"Fetch me another cup, will'ya?" The hokage mumbled while looking through a bunch of unorganized papers.

"Do I dare asking what happened to the other one?" Shizune asked only to find a finger pointing at the floor and the pieces lying shattered around that had once looked like something one could drink out of.

"And how long does it take you to find _one _man? I've been waiting for almost two hours!" A fist connected with the desk's surface and Shizune almost gave a small squeal at the sudden movement. Tsunade was obviously having a bad day.

"I've got people searching for him. You know just as well as I do how difficult it is to find-"

Shizune got interrupted when a poof of smoke appeared on the other side of the room.

"Yo" a halfhearted wave was given in Tsunade's direction as a lean figure appeared in the office.

"The hell have you been? I summoned you two hours ago, Kakashi!" Tsunade growled, eying the newly arrived jounin.

The silver haired scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, about that. You see I-"

"Ah, forget it. I'm not in the mood to hear any of your poorly attempted lies today," Tsunade sighed, a twinge of annoyance in her voice

"This is what I get for doing the village a favor," the silver haired man muttered in dismay.

"Did you get it?" The sannin asked, ignoring the jounin's whining.

"Ah." Kakashi reached behind his back, tossing her a scroll and tucking his hands safely back in his pockets.

"Good." The hokage said relived, putting it aside for now. "I'll need a detailed report regarding everything that's happened, Kakashi. Don't leave anything out. Do you have any idea how many complaints we've received for the mess you guys made? Sheesh."

"There were some… minor problems. I don't think you want to know." Kakashi said, looking rather bored as he stared out the window.

"I'm sure I don't." The hokage mumbled. "You should hurry up and write it. I doubt you'll be staying here for much longer."

Kakashi frowned under his mask. "Don't you think you're taking this revenge thing of yours a little too far, Tsunade-sama?"

"You deserved everything you got, brat," Tsunade smirked. "However. This isn't a matter of revenge, you just happen to be the most fitted for this next mission. I still need to put together a team, and that seems to be quite one bit a problem. Get some rest, I'll summon you when I have more information regarding the mission."

"You spoil me, hokage-sama," Kakashi said, a hint of irony in his voice before disappearing again.

"Hokage-sama!" The same moment a chuunin messenger came boosting in the door carrying a letter.

"What is it?" Tsunade was handed the piece of paper. Her eyes narrowed as her eyes scanned the words. Eventually they widened and her gaze shifted at Shizune.

"This is bad."

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Kakashi appeared outside of the hokage building. After suffering two whole months with _the_ Gai on a mission Tsunade still wouldn't let him get a decent break. The masked jounin sighed and reached for his back pocket to retrieve his beloved book as he started to walk down the street. He noticed it was already getting darker, which didn't bother him at all. It meant the streets would be less crowded. Luckily for him he had good eyes, so reading in the dark was not a problem when it came to the copy ninja.

"O-oy! There you are!" Kakashi ignored the voice without a second thought, knowing exactly who it belonged to. The owner of the voice caught up to him with ease, much to Kakashi's annoyance.

"You're a hard man to find, ya'know that?" He reeked from alcohol as he spoke.

"So I've heard." Kakashi muttered, his eyes never leaving _icha icha_.

"You up for a drink?"

"Looks like you've already started without me, Genma." Giving up on any form of reading in the semi-drunken man's presence Kakashi closed his book and placed it back in his pocket. He didn't feel like drinking tonight.

"If you'd been through the same hell as I experienced this morning then you'd be drinking too." Genma stated as he struggled with walking in a straight line.

"Anko kicked you out, huh?" he questioned.

"Yeah… Apparently someone told her that I was seeing this really hot medic and she totally tried to castrate me for it," Genma frowned.

"Did you?" Kakashi looked at the man out of the corner of his eyes. His expression as bored and unreadable as always.

"Hell no! … I might not be the perfect boyfriend, but I'm _not_ unfaithful," It was the truth. He really hadn't done anything, people just assumed he was sleeping with every woman he had a conversation with.

"And you told her that?"

"I didn't get the chance to because I suddenly found sharp objects thrown at my fuckin' head," Genma growled. "Who cares?! I'm not going back to that woman even if she begs me. If she tried to kill me over something like that then…." Genma gritted his teeth causing his senbon to break in half. "Damn…"

Kakashi gave a sympathetic nod before sighing. "I had a mission with Gai…"

The senbon user raised an eyebrow. "Geez, you sure you don't need a drink?"

Ah, to hell with it. Maybe Genma had a point. "Where to?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura turned around to stare into the bedroom mirror, only it seemed like a whole other person was staring back at her. Her eyes were lined with a midnight black eyeliner and she wore heavy green eyeshadow, but it matched her emerald eyes. Her slightly parted lips were covered in a cherry colored gloss.

"I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome, how about you?" Ino said, smirking at the reflection. She herself wore a purple cocktail dress, longer than Sakura's. Her hair was down for once and Sakura couldn't help but smile. Ino looked older wearing her hair down. But come to think of it, she bet the two of them could've passed as twenty-year olds looking like this. One thing bothered her though.

"Ino this dress is way too short, I can't go out like this." She said, staring at the Yamanaka.

"Tsc, you'll be fine. What's wrong with showing a little skin?" The blonde asked, taking a stance behind Sakura to admire her own work.

"But…-" Sakura fixed her gaze at the reflection again. A _little _skin? It really was too short for her liking. What if it decided to ride up without her noticing it? That would just be too embarrassing.

"Come on, forehead. You'll forget everything about it once we start drinking."

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Kakashi and Genma had eventually ended up in a bar known as Kuro Sawa. The copy nin wasn't in the mood for something too fancy. They still found the bar to be extremely crowded though. Seeing as it _was_ Saturday night that made perfectly sense, but that didn't mean they enjoyed getting someone's drink in their laps every ten minutes.

"Why didn't I just go home…" Kakashi whined, questioning his own stupidity while taking a sip from his sake through the material of his mask. The music was starting to get louder.

"Cause' my good pity you friend me…" Genma mumbled, having gotten a little too much to drink.

Kakashi frowned. "What's not to pity about you…"

Half an hours passed with either of them taking the initiative to start a conversation. Simply enjoying their drinks and looking around, gazing into the various crowds of people having fun. It was one of the things Kakashi appreciated about Genma. Sometimes talking wasn't really necessary to have a good time, even thought this was more like a pity party.

"May I get you gentlemen anything else?" A cute, brown-haired waiter asked, smiling down at Genma who gave something that looked more like a grimace rather than a smile in return.

"I think we're good," the senbon user replied. The waiter nodded, moving over to the next table. "I don't think we should be drinking any more. God, the music is so damn loud! So what- eh… Hatake? What are you- Oh…" Genma followed Kakashi's gaze over to the bar. Apparently he had been staring like that for a while without Genma noticing. He probably wasn't aware of the intense staring himself.

"Damn, those _are _some nice legs…" Genma grinned. Kakashi seemed to agree wholeheartedly because he kept his eyes locked on a woman standing close to the bar, her back turned to him.

"Well, if _you _won't talk to her-," The brown haired jounin started, grabbing his drink to take an encouraging amount of alcohol into his blood, about to stand up, but not before the woman turned around. Kakashi, who also decided to take a sip at the same moment choked on the liquid the very second she turned around. Both men were coughing violently and Genma was quick changed his mind and sat back down again, his expression priceless. They received some odd looks, but neither of them cared.

"Isn't that your…eh…" He finally uttered, staring at Kakashi.

The copy nin cleared his throat. "Looks like it," but oh how he hoped he was wrong. Although the pink hair told him otherwise. He'd been to fixed on her legs, and dared he say… ass, to notice those familiar pink strands that no one else in Konoha possessed.

"That never happened," the silver haired muttered. Genma gave a slow, agreeing nod.

"Are we seriously _that_ desperate, Hatake?"

"Definitely not," Kakashi replied quickly. It was surprising what some sake could do to you. Checking out your former student… What the hell what _wrong_ with him? Even if he had been drinking, that was just simply something you shouldn't do no matter what.

"Lets get out of here."

------------------------------------------

Ino had managed to drag Sakura out of the apartment despite her struggle and complaints. Sakura had eventually given up on running away and followed Ino to wherever she was taking her.

Ino had been right. She did receive a lot of stares. Mostly from older men, which kind of freaked her out a little. She didn't know if they stared because they thought she looked pretty or because they were surprised that her parents allowed her to go outside looking like _that. _She shook her head free of those thoughts as the two kunoichi entered a bar. Sakura had never been to a place this crowded. A bunch of not-so-sober people bumped into her, almost causing her to stumble forward, but Ino held onto her and if she dared letting go she would feel Sakura's fist of wrath once they got home.

The girls occupied a spot close to the bar. Sakura wasn't really sure if this was her kind of thing.

"Wait here alright, I'll fetch us something to drink." Ino said before letting go of Sakura's hand, heading straight for the bartender.

'_Great' _Sakura thought. Not only did people enjoy making her lose her balance, but now her friend had bailed on her too? First and last time she ever went drinking with Ino.

Sakura scanned one side of the bar, looking for familiar faces. No luck there. TenTen was supposed to come with them, but she had a mission in the morning so drinking was out of the question she'd kindly told them. Sakura sighed. She then turned around to gaze into the other part of the location when she after a little while finally spotted someone she knew walking towards her, but they didn't seem to notice her.

"Sensei?" The girl questioned, more to herself than to anyone else. She'd never seen him anywhere off duty other than occasionally bumping into him on the streets or in the store, always reading that damn book of his. But here he was, walking towards the exist with a jounin she recognized from their first chuunin exam following closely behind him. They didn't look too happy.

Sakura was about to greet them both, but not before discovering that the damn guys had walked straight passed her, not even bothering to give her a single glance. Sakura was left wide eyed.

"unbelievable…" she nearly whispered.

"What was that?" Ino suddenly appeared with two glasses occupying each of her hands, looking curiously at Sakura.

"Un! Fucking! Believable!" She shouted, not caring that the people standing next to her backed a few steps away from the two of them.

"Sakura? What's wrong?" Ino asked, a little surprised at Sakura's sudden change of mood. It wasn't that time of the month, was it?

Sakura ignored her, feeling the rage build up inside of her. One thing was quitting the team like everyone else, but IGNORING her? That was something she couldn't forgive. Sakura had a feeling that her night out with Ino had been ruined before it even started.

**--------------------------------------------------------**

Sorry for any grammar\typing errors. I really didn't read the whole thring through. 5 AM, -yawn-

English is not my first language, but that's no excuse. I need to fetch myself a beta reader. As stated, it will probably still be following a somewhat common plot when it comes to most Kakasaku fics(but it'll still be following an original story). It's all about the details, ne? Well, I hope you'll give it a shot.

**Serenity-Chama**


	2. Mission preparations

**Sorry about the extremely short chapter. I promise I'll make it up to you in the next one, but I have a reason for stopping here.**

**All feedback is **_highly_** appreciated.**

**Enjoy.**

**------------------**

It had been as Sakura had expected. Her night out with Ino had turned out like crap. What she remembered of it anyway. She'd felt too depressed, no that's not it, she'd felt too _angry_ to socialize with anyone so in an attempt to cheer the pink haired up Ino had decided to get her wasted. Bad idea. A _very_ bad idea. Apparently Sakura didn't handle alcohol very well and now she was stuck with _the_ worst headache in all of headache history and she cursed at whoever it was that had invented sake. This was just lovely wasn't it? And she was supposed to meet up at Tsunade's office later today to discuss the jounin exam. The Godaime would so kick her ass for this. Sakura growled as she buried her head in her pillow.

She didn't remember how she'd gotten home the previous night, but as for now she couldn't care less. She was home. Alone. Perfect.

"Someone please kill me…" Sakura mumbled against her pillow, hoping the roof would suddenly crumble hand fall down on her to put an end to her suffering.

"Stuff it, forehead. I'm trying to sleep…" She got a muffled reply in return, voice coming from somewhere behind her.

'_Alone my ass…' _

Sakura cracked her eyelids open at the unexpected presence of her hangover friend currently lying in _her _bed.

"What the- Ino? The hell are you doing in my bed?!" Sakura spat, only to find out that raising her voice was not the best idea at the moment and Ino seemed to agree because she covered her hands over her ears.

"Quiet, damnit…" The blonde whined.

"Gnh, fine…" Sakura was too tired to kick her friend's sorry ass out of her apartment. "How did we get here again?"

"I had to drag your unconscious ass back home. You should thank me, forehead. I could've just left you there you know, and God knows where you'd be waking up right now if I hadn't taken you with me." The blonde snuggled against the sheets. "And your bed is like the best thing ever."

Sure Ino had a point she guessed, even though she knew she'd never let that happen. Ino was actually quite protective when it came to Sakura. She'd always been like that, ever since they were kids. She'd been the one to teach her how to stand up for herself.

Sakura smiled. Ino manage to catch that and raised a blonde brow.

"What?"

"You're a pretty good friend, you know that." Sakura said, a little too serious for Ino's liking. Even though she highly appreciated Sakura's statement, it only ment that her friend was depressed about something, and she could only guess what.

"Screw them Sakura. Maybe they didn't recognize you or something." Ino sighed, not really believing her own words. Sakura wasn't hard to recognize. She was the only kunoichi with her hair color and one could get lost in those big emerald eyes of hers. Ino kind of envied that. Nevertheless, she was unforgettable.

Sakura shrugged. "Or maybe I'm simply not worth their time." _His_ time. She didn't really care about Genma. She hadn't talked to him since the first chuunin exam so she didn't really expect him to suddenly talk to her.

"Their loss then," Ino said cheerfully, but Sakura's expression remained blank. Were two seconds of her former mentor's life too much to ask for? At least acknowledging her existence.

'_Screw this, it's not worth thinking about.' _

"Well…" Sakura rose to her feet, her head throbbing at the slightest movement, but she had to endure it. This was her own, and partly Ino's, fault in the first place.

"I'm heading over to the hokage tower. I'll see you later, pig. Feel free to stay… I doubt I'll be long."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," The blonde grinned. She kind of envied Sakura for being able to take the jounin exam. Not that Sakura didn't deserve it, but Ino had been stuck in the hospital the last six months, mostly filling in for the lack of medics that had been sent to the frontline. She hadn't been on a single mission and she missed the action and adrenaline kick that came with it.

"Sleep tight," Sakura teased as she walked out of the bedroom. Ino only buried her head further into the pillow and groaned.

-----------------------------

When Sakura arrived at the hokage tower she was met by total chaos and people running around all over the place in different direction, their hands occupied by masses of paper and scrolls in different sizes. Well, there were always people running around in that very building, acting busy, but this was a sight she hadn't seen in a while. Deciding not to give the subject much more thought she made her way over to the door leading into Tsunade's office.

She was about to give it a few knocks, but only to find her fist almost hitting Shizune in the face as the door shot up. The woman flinched and stared at Sakura with wide eyes, then her usual warm smile replaced her surprised look.

"Come on in, Sakura-chan," the raven haired stepped aside and Sakura returned her smile and stepped into the office, her head still aching, but she somehow managed to ignore it. For now. Tsunade did not look happy there she sat, eyes narrowing as she scanned the piece of paper in her hand(it was a miracle it didn't burst into flames) and fingers tapping at the wooden surface.

"Shishou?" Sakura questioned. Tsunade shifted to look up at her apprentice and sighed.

"Sorry Sakura. You mind waiting a minute?"

"Uhm, no," Sakura blinked and took a stance next to Shizune, noticing the worried look on the older woman's face as she waited for the hokage to open her mouth.

"What about Anko?" The Godaime asked, serious eyes directed at Shizune.

"She's out of the village," The raven-haired answered, Sakura guessed they'd been at this for a while.

"Uzuki Yuugao?" Tsunade continued.

"Hospitalized… Along with the rest of her squad. She won't be out for at least a week." Shizune sighed, feeling the hokage's frustration.

"Damn… Out of all possible times… We have to have at least _one_ kunoichi who's qualified and available for this mission?" Tsunade clenched her teeth in pure frustration as she growled.

"It doesn't look good," Shizune answered.

"What's the problem?" Sakura questioned, blinking at her master.

Tsunade seemed to have forgotten that there was a third person in office and looked at her with surprised eyes. If Sakura hadn't known better she could've sworn that the sannin was staring her up and down with judging eyes. It made her feel a _little_ uncomfortable.

'She _is_ eighteen…' Tsunade thought to herself while eying the naïve looking pink-haired. However, it was still a bit too young, they needed someone in their twenties. Sakura could probably pull it off with some extra make-up, but still…

"Sakura." Tsunade said, looking into her student's eyes.

"Yes?" Sakura straightened.

"How are your acting skills?" Tsunade continued, never taking her eyes of her apprentice.

Sakura was taken by surprise, and her mouth fell open, then closed. This continued a few more times before Shizune spoke.

"You're sending Sakura-chan?"

Tsunade ignored her. "Answer my question, Sakura."

"R-right. Well… good I think. Why do you ask?" She wasn't really bad when it came to the art of acting, but she had never really used that skill much. There hadn't been a need to.

"I'm asking because… to be honest with you we're having a _serious_ problem here. One that could very well get us into another war we will do best to avoid." _Another war? _Sakura was all ears now. She'd do anything to prevent another war. Living six months in constant hell had really opened her eyes.

"You're sending me on a mission?"

Tsunade seemed to be deep in thought. She was considering it alright. What choice did she have? She would've sent Shizune if it wasn't for the fact that the woman was needed in Konoha.

"Sakura, you are one of the very few people in this village who've earned my trust. I believe in your skills as a kunoichi, but I need to know. Are you willing to do whatever it takes for a mission to succeed?" The look in her eyes told her that she wasn't joking around. Not that the hokage ever joked about mission related things, but Sakura knew when her teacher demanded an honest answer and not necessarily the right one.

"I am, shishou." Sakura answered truthfully.

A smiled formed at the hokage's lips and something that resembled pride shined through.

"Then it's decided. Now we only need a backup team, but that shouldn't be too hard to put together. I trust you on this Sakura. Do not let me down."

"I won't." Sakura bowed, still clueless about the mission itself, then it came to her. "What about the jounin exam?"

That the hokage hadn't thought about. They were supposed to discuss this in the first place, weren't they? She had an idea though.

"Tell you what, consider this mission your exam. If it succeeds, I will upgrade you to jounin, no written exam needed." Tsunade smirked, noticing the wide grin spreading on Sakura's face. The girl was excited and she'd missed that determination of hers.

"Yo," an all too familiar voice filled the room as three sets of eyes shifted to the man who just appeared in a poof of smoke, much similar to the other day.

"I don't have to remind you that you're an hour late, do I Kakashi?" There was an uncomfortable edge to the Godaime's voice that made the masked man wave his hands up in defense as his eye crinkled.

"Nope, I'm well aware of that fact myself," he figured it would be wise to drop the excuses this time. She didn't look like she was in the mood to hear him out, even though this time he really _had _a good reason for being late.

Kakashi's one exposed eye suddenly settled on the pink-haired woman standing next to Shizune. Why everyone seemed to be looking pissed off today was beyond him.

"Welcome back, Sakura." He said, giving her a happy eye crease. Her reply was a mere "_Hn_," something he figured she'd picked up from the Uchiha a long time ago, but for her it was highly uncharacteristic. He knew better than to question her behavior, but he couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve such a treatment from his favorite student. Surely Genma hadn't opened that big mouth of his had he? If that was the case his toothpick would fit perfectly into the senbon user's eye apple. He did not need his student to think of him as yet another old pervert. Well, more than she already did.

Kakashi sighed. Hoping this wasn't the case and that everyone just happened to have a bad day. "So, about the mission?" The silver haired crossed his arms, the fact that he'd just interrupted another conversation not even crossing his mind. This was Kakashi after all.

"I was just about to inform Sakura about the details." Tsunade replied, gaining a confused look from her student and a hard stare from the jounin.

_Oh no… no, no, no… He was not going to be her partner, was he?_

"Kakashi. Sakura. You are to listen very carefully about what I have to tell you. This information is to be kept strictly confidential. Is that clear?"

Sakura nodded. Kakashi mimicked her movement, giving his student a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, but not before raising an eyebrow at the hokage in question.

"You're sending me and Sakura on a mission alone?" He hadn't ment it to come out like that.

'_What's the matter, am I not good enough to be on the same squad as the legendary copy ninja?' _Sakura nearly spat out, but figured it would be highly unprofessional of her. She didn't want to act like a child in front of her master. She _had _grown damnit.

"No. You won't be going alone. Kakashi, you are to choose one ANBU member of your own choice to work as your backup. I recommend you choose someone you trust and work well with. He will be your only hope if something goes wrong. I will also assign a Yamanaka to your team, their skill are needed for this.

"Inoichi?" Kakashi asked.

"He's in cloud at the moment," Shizune quickly informed.

The hokage frowned. "I guess we'll have to send Ino then."

Sakura felt the urge to smile. Ino would be _so_ excited about this.

"Anyways, over to the mission…" They both waited patiently for the Godaime to continue.

"Two of our most precious scrolls are missing. These scrolls containing both blueprints and information that is for the council's eyes only. You are better off not knowing everything that's in there, but know this, that in the wrong hands this kind of information can definitely be used against us. And the outcome will not be good, that much I can promise you."

Sakura's eyes widened and she could've sworn that, if only for a moment, the copy nin's eyes did exactly the same before returning to a blank stare.

"How is this even possible? I mean, aren't these things supposed to be guarded by at least six ANBU at all times?" Sakura asked, noticing the slight shook of the hokage's head.

"That doesn't matter. It's true that there is absolutely no way for an enemy to steal the scrolls due to the strict security…but… This happened because of betrayal. We've been deceived by our own ANBU members. Two of them to be precisely."

"What?" Kakashi snapped. "That can't be possible?" He said in disbelief. He knew for a fact, being a former ANBU captain himself, that they were _very _strict when it came to recruiting new members. They didn't just let anyone take that exam. Background checks, psychical interrogations and much more was carefully studied and checked upon before they even considered letting that person take the exam. Not to mention, he knew most of the ANBU and he couldn't think of a single one that would dare to betray the village just like that.

"It shouldn't be!" Tsunade said angrily, fist connection with the desk's surface. "But still, it did happen and the damage have been done. We need to act before those scrolls get in the wrong hands."

Sakura swallowed. "Do we know where the scrolls are?"

Tsunade sighed for probably the umpteenth time that day. "No." She said blankly. "But we do know someone who knows."

"The ones that have taken the scrolls aren't interesting in using them."

"Then what are they after?" The pink haired seemed eager, which Tsunade supposed was a god thing.

"These guys are only interested in one thing, that thing being money. They sell village secrets to rival villages, thereby causing wars and conflicts between other villages. There's no doubt that the same will happen to us if we just let this slide. They will probably sell the objective to the highest bidder." The hokage's eyes narrowed. "You get where I'm going with this?"

"You want us to act as bidders." Kakashi merely confirmed. Hands uncrossing and returning to his pockets.

"Exactly." Tsunade answered. "But it won't be that easy. You have to gain their trust. The scrolls won't be located with the people you are to meet with. If you blow your cover there's no doubt that the scrolls will be lost. It was by sheer luck that we actually found out who these people were and how to contact them. We can't afford to screw this up. This is where your acting skills come in handy Kakashi. I count on you too, Sakura."

Both nodded in understandment.

"Good. We've already set up your cover, now all that remains is to inform your fellow teammates. Sakura, inform Ino. Kakashi, you know what you have to do. You're dismissed."

Figured that the very moment those words left her mouth the copy nin was already gone. Sakura gave another respectful bow and headed for the door, her head filled with unwanted thoughts, she'd rather keep the headache.

Out of all of the jounin in Konoha she just _had_ to be paired up with him. Fine, two could play the game of ignoring. She decided that she would only talk to him when the mission called for it, the rest of the time she'd leave him the hell alone. That's what he wanted wasn't it? She had Ino. Thankfully.

Sakura shook her head… She hadn't grown up at all…

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Kakashi was well on his way home, trying to come up with the most suitable backup. His first choice would've been Tenzo, but that man was on the same mission as Anko in hidden rain. Just his luck. Then there was always Gai, even though he wasn't an ANBU he possessed the skill of one. However, that was out of the question. He'd just recently spent a mission with Konoha's Green Best, and he'll be damned if he had to suffer through more of his rival's youth speeches. Not to mention, the guy tends to scare away the women. Not that Kakashi blamed them, he was at the brink of running away himself.

The silver haired ran a palm down his masked face. There was no way in hell he'd ask Genma.

No. Way.

Not that he didn't trust the guy, because he did. But due to the recent event at the bar it would just be too damn ironic for him to tag along. If he hadn't opened his mouth already the girls would be sure to know by the end of their mission. Why hadn't he stayed home that night? He should've listened to his gut feeling. It was usually right, but nooo… this was all his drinking buddy's fault. Well, actually it was Anko's fault for making him so depressed.

Well, Gai or Genma? Easy enough. Weeks of looking at a disturbing green spandex or a smack against his head when Sakura figured out that they had been checking out her ass and legs at the bar? Damn the man who ever invented sake. If he had to suffer more of those traumatizing images of Maito Gai hitting on beautiful, yet terrified, women he'd probably smack _himself _across the face so he guess he had his answer.

This would be one hell of a mission. He was happy to work with his little pink-haired student again though. Despite his little accident, he wanted to see how much she'd improved. He hadn't taught her since she was sixteen and barely spoken to her in the past two years. He missed all of team seven. But to his defense he'd barely spoken to anyone. After they'd brought back Sasuke things had happened… Things that had nothing to do with team seven. It had been one of the most horrifying moments in his life, just when he thought he'd been through hell already he'd gotten that one message. That one mission he'd foolishly begged the hokage to get.

Kakashi shook his head free of those thoughts. He didn't want to think about that. He'd come to the conclusion that the world was seriously fucked up a long time ago. His world anyway. Better not drag anyone else down with him.

"Genma it is…" He mumbled as he rounded another corner, heading for the senbon user's apartment.

-----------------------------

"Really? A mission?!" Pale, blue eyes lit up as Sakura explained the mission to her. It didn't seem that Ino was needed for anything else other than her bloodline limit, and even that was only to be used as a last resort if they somehow managed to screw up. But at least that counted for something. She could work as a backup as well.

"So, who's going with us?" The eager blonde questioned, leaned against the couch.

"Other than Kakashi… I have no idea. I guess we'll know by tomorrow." Sakura answered, taking an equal position at the opposite side of the couch.

"You sure you're alright about going on a mission with him?" Ino asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah… It's not like we're kids anymore. We can act like adults when the mission calls for it. That being said, I'm not planning on forgiving him anytime soon. If he wants to ignore me then I'll just let him." There was a bitter tone in Sakura's voice, but Ino chose to ignore it. As long as it didn't end with anyone dying because of the pink-haired's wrath she was relieved.

"If you say so, forehead." Ino stuck her tongue out.

"Pig!" She received a kick to the leg and chuckled. Really, what was she depressed about? A mission with Ino would certainly be fun…. As long as they didn't share rooms. Then hell would break loose. She had to fresh up her acting skills though, she was a bit curios about her role in all of this.

--------------------------

"You're kidding?!" Genma nearly rolled on the floor laughing, his sides hurting. Apparently, he too could see the irony, but Kakashi didn't find it all that funny.

"You done now? I'd like to discuss certain details with you." The silver haired sighed, giving the other man a bored stare.

"Ow, come on… It's funny! Fine, fine… when are we leaving and stuff? And where the hell are we going?" Genma gathered himself and took a seat at the kitchen table. His one-eyed friend leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed, not looking so amused as himself. After all, this was a serious matter for Konoha.

"That I don't know yet. We're meeting at the office tomorrow morning for further details." Kakashi explained.

"So what am I supposed to do? Just tag along in _case _you _happen_ to blew your cover? How many times have that happened? Hell, I bet you could pull this off on your own." Kakashi frowned. That might be true, he'd never blown a cover, but he didn't know his enemies yet so he would have to trust Tsunade's decision.

"Apparently. It doesn't mean you have to go and get yourself wasted every night. I'll be damned if I died while you're lying passed out in some random bar after getting knocked out by a woman you failed hitting on."

"Ouch, talk about hitting below the belt. That only happened once! Damn you, Hatake." Kakashi gave something that resembled a chuckle and Genma smirked. Those were rare coming from him these days. He too had heard what happened one and a half year ago. Well, not everything. He'd overheard some ANBU talk about it. But being a good friend and knowing Kakashi he chose not to ask. He knew Kakashi appreciated that fact. Was it something the copy nin didn't like to talk about it was his past.

"Some group we'll be," The brown-haired sighed, a hint of amusement in his voice. He didn't mind spending time with the silver haired and he certainly didn't mind going on a mission with two beautiful girls. Not that he'd try anything. Eighteen was a bit too young for his liking. Besides, Kakashi would kill him if he tried anything with his student. Being the overprotective sensei as he was.

"Ah," Kakashi replied. Looking up at the ceiling. '_Some group indeed'._

-----------------------------------

"Pig, we're late! Hurry up! God, we're so _dead_…" Sakura ran for the door, her blonde friend right behind her as she tried to tread a sweater over her head. Figures the alarm clock would fail them today. Ino decided to sleep over, her heater was still out of order so Sakura made it very clear that if she was to spend the night she'd have to sleep on the couch and bathroom was off limit in the morning. Not that it mattered now since they'd _both _overslept.

After a few minutes of running, panting, cursing and tripping they finally made it to the office with a delay of less than ten minutes, thank God.

The door shot up and first thing they noticed was Genma as he seemed to be flirting with the hokage's assistant, Tsunade giving him an evil glare and he soon laughed it off and turned to face the girls.

"Greetings ladies. I believe you're a tad late there." He smirked.

Ino scanned the office. "Apparently we're not the only one who're late." She stated, giving Genma a satisfied grin.

"I believe you are."

Both Sakura and Ino turned to face the man leaning against the wall behind them. Well be damned, he too had managed to show up on time. Ino frowned in dismay. Damn Genma.

"Everyone here now?" Tsunade let her eyes shift between each person. Nods were given and there was a pause before she continued.

"I'll make it short then. Everything about your new identities are explained here" She held up a small scroll, tossing it to Kakashi who caught it with ease and stuffed it in his pocket.

"You'll be given one too, just in case." Tsunade said, tossing a different scroll to Genma. Sakura felt a bit annoyed that the two females were mostly ignored, but she guessed she was taking this a little too personal.

"Your destination is located in lightning country, a city called Seishin. The whereabouts of our enemies is also explained in the scroll. They're expecting you. You are to leave as soon as possible. Understood? Good." Tsunade let out a satisfied sigh.

"I'm counting on you guys. You're dismissed."

This time there was no one who disappeared in a poof of smoke. The four of them made their way out of the office and outside the hokage building. Genma was the first to stop and turn to face the others who also paused in their steps.

"When do we leave?" His question was with out a doubt directed at the silver haired so the kunoichis merely waited for him to say something.

"One hour. Outside the main gates. That alright with everyone?" Kakashi questioned while pulling out his trademark perverted book. It gained him a frown from Sakura, which very much amused him, but he wouldn't let her know that.

"Yes sir," Ino said in a mocking tone. Genma merely smiled at the girl, finding her teasing to be quite cute.

"One hour. Got'cha." Then the four of them went their separate ways.

--------------------

It took Kakashi about ten minutes to pack his stuff, lock his apartment and head out for the main gate. Fine, he went the opposite direction, but he had plenty of time before they were supposed to meet up. There was no way he was going to be early anyway. It was almost noon and the sun was already out in full force. Before he knew it his feet had taken him to the memorial monument. He hadn't been here this morning due to Genma knocking on his door and dragging him all the way to the hokage tower. He felt the need to apologize to the people he knew wouldn't answer him.

Kakashi traced the names engraved in the stone with his one exposed eye, like he did every morning. Every evening. Granted he wasn't out on a mission of course.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. The one word he felt he couldn't say enough. He knelt in front of the monument, his head hung a little lower than usual. Suddenly he felt a rather familiar presence behind him, but he didn't stand nor shift his gaze away from the stone.

"What're you doing here, Sakura?" His voice sounded a bit heavy.

"I kind of followed you here…" The pink-haired answered. But in all honesty she had no idea _why_ she'd done it in the first place. She'd had all her stuff packed from beforehand and had caught a glimt of silver as she made her way to their meeting place. She'd gotten curios, her ignoring plan had kind of failed the very moment she decided to go after him.

"Shouldn't you be home packing?" It didn't really sound like he gave a crap, he almost sounded annoyed if anything.

"If you want me to leave just say so," Sakura sighed as she was about to grant his wish by turning around.

"I didn't say that." She hated the way his voice never gave away anything. Did he want her to stay or should she just get the hell out of there and leave him to his thoughts?

"But you want me to?" Sakura took a few steps closer to the kneeling man.

"You're free to stay if you want to." He simply told her.

'_Geez, he didn't even answer my question.'_

"I seriously don't get you, sensei. I _really don't," Sakura groaned, placing herself next to the copy nin._

"_I doubt anyone do." _

_----------------------_

Again, so sorry for it being so short. And no, it won't be your usual 'Sakura has to sleep with the enemy' type of story. I'm taking my time to develop their relationship, so just bear with me for a _little_ while and you will get your smut eventually.

_**Serenity-Chama**_


End file.
